Reinhart's Final Year as a Gryphon

By: Rob Massey

Gryphon linebacker and long snapper Job Reinhart was looking for something a little different to do to celebrate Canada Day.

So he and former Guelph CVI Green Gaels football teammate Jacob Ingram, younger brother of former Gryphon receiver James Ingram, decided to go on “a nice little cycle” ride.

“(We) rode up to Lake Joseph in Muskoka,” he said. “It sounded like a good adventure so we got together, planned it out and just did it.”

And how long did it take to complete the ride of somewhere in the neighbourhood of 250 kilometres?

“Thirteen and a half hours or 14 ½ hours,” Reinhart said. “It was a great time, a great experience.”

But the pair had no intention of repeating it with a ride home.

“We actually stayed at a friend’s cottage and luckily our friend had a truck to bring us back home. There was no way we were riding back.”

Reinhart was a seventh-round pick, 64th overall, of the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL draft in the spring. He attended Calgary’s camp and tried to soak in as much knowledge as he could.

“It was a great time and I learned a lot,” he said “I learned a lot of the details of the game and just different techniques. I learned from a lot of experience. I’ve definitely been trying to apply the skills I learned in Calgary and bring them back here.”

Reinhart is one of the fifth-year Gryphons for the 2019 season, and that sounds almost unbelievable that he’s been with the team that long.

“Time flies by really quick. It still feels like I should be in second or third year.”

This year’s Gryphon training camp was different for a couple of reasons. The team had a new hierarchy on its coaching staff and training camp was reduced to 10 days.

“The new staff has been great,” Reinhart said. “They have tons of experience and I’m learning a lot of new stuff from them. They’ve really changed the culture around here. I’m really liking it.”

Like all fifth-year Gryphons, Ryan Sheahan is his fourth head coach in his five years with the team. He had Stu Lang for his first season in 2015, Kevin O’Neill for two seasons and then Todd Galloway last year.

As for the shortness of the training camp, it placed more importance on keeping up the workouts in the summer. But Job’s a Reinhart and he and his older brother Jake, former Gryphon and current Toronto Argo, thrive on working out either in a gym or outside practising their long snaps.

“There was a real sense of urgency to come in and be ready to go because there’s no time to miss days or be messing around. You’ve got to be on point all the time,” Job said. “I was working as hard as I can.”

As for the 2019 OUA season, Job has set no personal goals because he’s team-driven.